Somebody help me

Quistis nods, but continues leading him to his room. "Okay, but put your belongings away first. And you'll have to leave Hyperion behind I'm afraid. And...Seifer?" "Huh?" "Just...do all you can, okay? He's...really frail. He won't admit it, he pushed us all away, but you can see it. And also, he hasn't woken up for a while. Physically, he has, but he looks and acts as if he is asleep. He won't eat, or drink, and so the only thing keeping him alive is the IV." She shakes her head. "Just trying to brief you is all." She shrugs, but her cobalt blue eyes are sad.

Seifer just nods and does as requested, placing Hyperion carefully on the bed before allowing the instructor to lead the way to the infirmary. His long striding saunter is faster than Quistis' quick, but smaller steps, so he is forced to slow his pace. The tall blonde male was mildly disturbed at the smaller blonde's lack of proper explanation, and she looked more worried than usual. But with a soft sigh, he says nothing, allowing the silence to draw on as they trek around the vestibule. Walking past Garden's resident physician, Quistis stops outside one of the small rooms. "He's in here." She says quietly, as she looks to the subdued doctor, "Is he awake?" The doctor takes a deep breath, a look of almost hopelessness on her face. "Yes. But it's the same as before. No movement, no nothing. Even though he is conscious, it's like...he just isn't /there/. There is no scientific or medical explanation for what is going on." The woman shrugs helplessly, and returns to her desk with a sad sigh. Quistis types in the key code for the door and allows Seifer to see their fallen leader.

The arrogant blonde male strides in confidently, taking a few steps in so that the door would slide closed behind him. He frowns darkly, looking over the brunette's profile. His face was hollow and pale, and the only noise in the room was the constant beeping of the machine by his bedside, and frankly, he could do without that incessant noise. Walking around to the front of the bed, looking annoyed as hell at what had happened to his equal. He was supposed to be awake, right, so why didn't he even open his eyes when he had walked in? Growling, he walks over and shakes the unresponsive male, but he doesn't even move, although he tenses under the blonde's careless touch and begins to shake a little, of what, the blonde could only guess at.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Seifer's arrogance could be felt in his words, even though there was an edge of uncertainty in his tone. The brunette in the bed could just tell that he was raising a blond eyebrow expectantly. No answer came. Squall doesn't even open his eyes. "Fuck it, c'mon Leonhart, I didn't waste my time getting here just for you to ignore me. Open your goddamn eyes and talk to me for Hyne's sake." Still nothing.

Angry at the lack of movement or reaction from the stubborn Garden Commander, he reaches over and roughly shakes him, watching the pale face as it stays blank, as if he were already dead, and not just imitating it. Sighing, he drops him down like a discarded toy, walking back to the end of the bed. "I can wait here as long as you want Leonhart, it doesn't matter to me either way. Let's see how long you can keep up this charade." He takes a seat at the commander's side, getting comfortable. "I'll beat you at everything you do Leonhart, you know I'm not one to give up. And I'm going to win the big game too; I'm going to save you."

"You can't even save yourself." A soft, but painfully empty voice says from the bed. It seemed that the ice prince had no trouble speaking to the blonde, although he hadn't talked in a while, nobody had heard his voice for a log time, and it was hoarse, yet still melodious as always, even if it sounded grating. But the old Squall was gone, he was different now, and even though he had been dead to the others, he had always been a ghost to Seifer; he had always been alive, but still lost. Now, Seifer was granted with a dead man, while the others were given nothing. Had he thought about it, he would have been pleased that he was the only one to get a reaction out of Squall, or at least, the old Seifer would. But now, he would be honoured, in some strange way.

"What the fuck?" He looks mildly startled at the still brunette beside him. Squall still had his eyes closed, and lips in a thin line, it was as if he had never spoken at all. "Like hell I have." He replies before he can stop himself. He smirks suddenly. "That wasn't so hard." He says, but as Squall does not move or speak again for some time, his smirk fades. "Y'know, you're such a liar Leonhart." The cocky blonde says. "Why don't ya just get up and say you're fine, and I can be back on my merry way, deal?"

Silence was his only reply. Seifer sighs, rubbing his temple. "C'mon, talk to me. You must have missed me?" He tries again, summing up all his patience, because he knew that Squall always tended to need all of it, and when he eventually got his ex rival to start talking, he didn't want to do something stupid and push him back into his shell. He knew how Squall felt, he'd watched him for years, seen how he reacted, how he coped. Except doing something like this was not in his nature. He'd never have gone to his 'friends' for help, that wasn't how he worked, he'd have just slipped until they took him down a step, but it seemed that his 'friends' hadn't wanted to take him a step down, and now this was the result. Just because they thought they had the ability to help him, to understand him, to change him. They all wanted him to be their saviour for everything, he had to be the best, the one who did everything perfectly, and was loved by all. Who felt, who socialised, who was friendly. The thought made him sick to his stomach. They were so absorbed in making him into someone else; they were blind to the pain they caused, blind to the brink that they pushed him to. They pushed away the real Squall, pushed him into the limelight that he didn't want, and they made him dance. Except he wasn't dancing, he never was. He was falling off the stage, and they were just hauling him back up, again and again.

The thought made Seifer angry enough to go and pummel the stupid wretches right then, but that would only get him into trouble, and Squall would never be saved. He tries a different approach.

"Fine. Be like that. See if I care. You don't even deserve saving." He says, folding his arms over his chest. Maybe if he could make Squall react, either with guilt or because of something he said, then he could slowly drag him out, kicking and screaming if he had to. Squall had changed recently though, after all that happened, it was understandable, but it meant he was more unpredictable. Seifer eventually does get a reply from the male in the bed, but it isn't the one he wanted. At all.

"I didn't ask to be saved." He says lightly, his dry lips barely moving. And he wasn't finished yet. Oh no, he had a few spiteful words on the tip of his tongue. "But if the white knight believes he can save someone else. You're too late." Seifer almost flinches at the emptiness in his voice, betraying his fall into hell. The name didn't please him either; it was not like him to bring something like that up. Watching the broken male, his heart jumps into his throat at the tainted beauty of the once strong and proud saviour of this world.

"That's a lie. You are not too far to be saved. Let me save you." Squall just snorts and turns his head away from Seifer, the first actual movement so far. It kind of hurt. "Look, just let me help you, okay? I mean, how bad could it be? At least if you make some progress, you should be able to get out of this ridiculously white room, and back into your own room, where people will leave you alone." Seifer tries to bribe him, using past experience to try and tempt him, but Squall doesn't react; he knew that it would be bad, very bad to do that, and although getting out of here sounded very appealing, to be free of the people that stared at him through that window every goddamn minute of the day, people would not leave him alone wherever he was, because nobody seemed to be smart enough to let him get on with things himself, instead of always trying to make him better, make him the one responsible, make him do things he couldn't and didn't want to do.

"Come on Leonhart, talk to me. You know I can't read minds." Seifer says, slightly annoyed at the sickly male going back into his inverted conversations. Squall just closes his eyes and frowns deeply, ignoring him. The blonde sighs exasperatedly and rubs his temple. "Squall...will you tell me what is wrong? Will you tell me how I can help you?" The ex knight says with sudden care and compassion, his voice soft and tender. Squall opens his eyes at the unnatural tone, but says nothing. The way his eyes switched colours proved that he was thinking. Deeply. In the end, the brunette doesn't reply, but his frown deepens and his breath hitches, one hand instantly coming to his heart, pressuring it harshly.

Despite his lack of answer, the previous conversation was pushed from his mind as he looks worriedly at the man on the small bed. "Are you alright?" He frowns in something like concern, moving forward, but Squall roughly pushes the blonde man away, with considerable strength despite his current condition. "Doc." He growls through clenched teeth, and doctor Kadowaki rushes in, ushering Seifer out of the way. This was the only time that Squall used to permit her to help him. That was before he went into such a deep shell, that Seifer had peeled away with surprising ease.

Seifer is forced to stand outside the window and watch the proceedings with worry in his eyes as Balamb Garden's physician works around the commander. After giving him some drugs and checking him over, the doctor walks out of the small room, the door making a soft swooshing noise behind her.

"Is he alright? What happened?" Seifer's worried gaze rests on the fairly short and pudgy woman before him, and he tugs on the hem of his shirt, his worry and such poured out with this small subconscious act.

"I am afraid that that is confidential information, Mr Almasy, known only between myself and Squall. I'm sorry, but you'll have to ask him." The doctor looks at him sternly, her hands on her hips. "Squall needs his rest. He's very ill, and he isn't getting any better. You need to look after him." She waves her finger at him, before returning to her desk.

"C'mon Doc!" The arrogant ex knight wails almost exasperatedly. "You know I'll never get t out of Leonhart. This is a special case, right? So why can't ya just bend the rules /a little?" "Now Seifer you know I can't do that. Patient-doctor confidentiality is very important. And its not something I like to break, even under circumstances like these. You may see this act as you wish, but the least I can do for Squall is keep his secrets for him. It is not my place to say, Seifer, and you know it too." The blonde just sighs and nods, not trying to get the annoying doctor to comply to his wishes, knowing his attempts would prove fruitless.

"Just be careful around him. He's not well, and these little attacks are getting worse. Don't push him around. And most of all: don't hurt him." "You talk about him like he's made of glass." Seifer snorts. "He is Seifer. He is. Made of ice and glass." Seifer just looks down, because he could see it as well. The ice holding the broken glass together was melting, and there was nothing anybody could do. But he'd try. He'd try to glue the stubborn brunette back together, even if he cut his fingers, he'd do his best for Squall. Because he cared...

Hope you like it, sorry that it is so short, and that it took me a long time to write it, but my computer has been going through the motions, and is on its way to a one week vacation in the store, because it keeps screwing up.

Thank you to Zencreation and WeCouldBeGone, as well as all you others, I'm just sorry that I suck at updating and have limited energy, no motivation and a hard time getting on the computer, as well as a lazy inspiration, I'll be damned if it ever works fully.

Well. Thanks, R+R.